Jennifer Diamond grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, in a family that valued discipline and hard work. Her mother, Sally, built a career in pharmaceuticals, while her father, Lynn, practiced law. Alongside her siblings Heather, Jonathan, and Jill, Jennifer learned early the importance of focus and resilience—values that would shape her life in business and beyond.
In 1993, Jennifer stepped into the world of construction and infrastructure. What started as a career soon became a calling. She worked her way up to become President and CEO of ProTech Coatings Inc. and ProTech Infrastructure, companies specialising in waterproofing, bridge deck repair, and highway restoration. With over thirty years of experience, she has led transformative projects across the Western U.S., combining technical precision with a vision for long-term impact.
Her education added depth to her expertise. Graduating from the University of Utah in 1997 with a degree in Architecture, Jennifer balanced technical knowledge with the leadership skills needed to guide large-scale projects. Her drive mirrored her roots in athletics and endurance sports, where training for marathons and Ironman triathlons taught her to push through obstacles with grit and consistency.
Outside the boardroom, Jennifer built Diamond Equestrian Center, an English riding farm and training facility. There, her daughter Claire Marie trains and competes as a nationally ranked show jumper. For Jennifer, the equestrian world reflects her lifelong belief in discipline, detail, and balance.
From repairing highways to raising champions, Jennifer Diamond’s story is one of resilience, innovation, and purpose.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
Jennifer Diamond’s day starts early. She often reviews schedules and project updates before sunrise, a habit shaped by decades of running construction crews where timing is everything. Mornings are for decisions: setting priorities for ProTech’s infrastructure projects, checking on budgets, and making sure highway restoration crews have what they need. Afternoons often shift to meetings with engineers, clients, or government officials. Productivity for her comes from structure. “If I don’t plan the first three hours of my day, the rest unravels,” she has said.
How do you bring ideas to life?
She breaks them down into stages. At ProTech, an idea for a new repair method starts with small pilot projects on less critical roads. Only after testing does she scale to larger highway contracts. Outside of construction, she applied the same method when launching Diamond Equestrian Center. She started with a modest training facility and grew it gradually as her daughter Claire Marie advanced in competition.
What’s one trend that excites you?
She’s fascinated by sustainable infrastructure. Bridge decks that last longer with fewer chemical treatments and eco-friendly coatings interest her because they blend engineering with responsibility for future generations.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Reflection. At the end of each week, Jennifer writes a short list of what worked and what didn’t. She learned this from training for Ironman races—constant small adjustments are how you stay on course.
What advice would you give your younger self?
“Patience is power.” Early in her career she tried to push projects too quickly. She learned that lasting work—whether a bridge deck or a business—requires time and steady pacing.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
Jennifer believes failure in construction projects should sometimes be left visible. “Covering up every mistake immediately hides the lessons,” she once said. She encourages teams to walk sites where something went wrong before fixing it, so they remember what not to repeat.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Take long walks without a phone. For Jennifer, this practice clears mental noise and sparks ideas. Many of her business decisions, including the expansion of ProTech into infrastructure, came after solitary walks.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
She returns to equestrian training. Spending time in the barn resets her perspective. “Horses demand presence. They don’t care about contracts or deadlines. If you’re distracted, they know,” she explained.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Hiring for grit. Jennifer looks for employees who can endure long projects, bad weather, and unexpected challenges. She learned that technical skills can be taught, but resilience cannot. This strategy built crews that stayed with her through decades of demanding infrastructure work.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
In her early years, Jennifer underestimated the complexity of a bridge repair bid. Her company lost money because she didn’t factor in weather delays. Instead of quitting, she spent months reworking her cost models. Today, her bidding system includes contingencies for everything from storms to material shortages. The failure taught her that precision in planning prevents loss later.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
She suggests creating cross-training programs for crews. Instead of having siloed roles, she advocates for training workers in multiple skills. It builds resilience, lowers costs, and increases morale.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
She relies on project management software for scheduling heavy infrastructure projects. Color-coded dashboards let her see which crews are on time and where delays are likely. This helps her make adjustments quickly.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
She returns often to Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage. The story of Shackleton’s Antarctic survival resonates with her approach to business. “It reminds me that leadership isn’t about comfort—it’s about getting people through storms with steady focus,” she explained.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
She enjoyed The Queen’s Gambit for its focus on discipline and strategy. Watching the main character balance raw talent with careful planning reminded her of equestrian sports, where instinct and precision work hand in hand.
Key learnings
- Structure early in the day sets the pace for productive leadership.
- Resilience, not just technical skill, is key to building strong teams.
- Failures should be studied openly before fixing to ensure lasting lessons.
- Reflection and small adjustments prevent wasted effort and burnout.
- Balance comes from habits outside of work—horses, endurance sports, and family create perspective that supports better leadership.